Cornelius is one of two Roman centurions mentioned in the New Testament who were godly men. The first centurion mentioned loved the Jewish nation and had built a synagogue for the Jews (Lk 7:1-10). Jesus said of this Gentile: “I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.” The centurion in Acts 10, Cornelius, is described as “a devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, who gave much alms to the people (of Israel), and prayed to God always.” Surely Cornelius was an exceptional man, especially when we think of Roman soldiers as being ruthless and brutal. According to human standards, he was a saved man, if anyone was. But as yet, he was not, for we are told in Acts 11:14 that Peter was sent to him to tell him words whereby he and his family would be saved. Good works have never in any dispensation produced spiritual salvation.
Cornelius is exceptional in another way. God did take account of his good deeds and for that reason sent an angel to tell him that his prayers and alms had been remembered by God, and that he should send messengers to Joppa to find a certain man by the name of Simon Peter who would tell him what he ought to do. This is the only recorded case in the New Testament where God took account of an unsaved man’s good deeds and as a result sent an angel to tell him to send for a certain evangelist who would tell him how to be saved.
How do we explain this exceptional case? This Gentile was far different from the Gentiles described by Paul in Romans 1:21-32, among whom not even one was to be found who did good. Cornelius stands as an example of Gentile salvation in the coming Tribulation period. According to the Abrahamic Covenant, God had promised to bless those who blessed the descendants of Abraham (Gen 12:1-3). At the Judgment of the Nations at the end of the Great Tribulation, the Gentiles are going to be judged on the basis of their treatment of the Lord’s brethren, the Jewish people (Mt 25:40). Those who treat Israel well will be allowed to enter the Kingdom: the others will be destroyed. It should be remembered that during our Lord’s earthly ministry and up to this time, God was dealing exclusively with the nation of Israel in regard to the establishment of their Messianic Kingdom. Both the centurion of Luke 7 and Cornelius of Acts 10 loved the Jewish people and gave alms to them, and as a result God recognized them for what they had done and sent the means of salvation to them. One thing is certain: God is not duplicating the Cornelius event within this present dispensation (Eph 3:2).
The conversion of Cornelius is typically used as an example of how sinners are saved in this present age of grace because he received the Holy Ghost before being baptized with water. It is commonly taught that Cornelius was baptized by the Spirit into the Body of Christ by hearing and believing Peter’s message. However, Cornelius is an example of Gentile salvation under the gospel of the kingdom (see Mt 25:31-46). If the household of Cornelius were the first Gentiles baptized into the Body of Christ, as it is commonly taught, why does the Scripture say that the door of faith was opened to the Gentiles through Paul’s ministry (Acts 14:27)?
Peter did not preach to Cornelius that apart from the nation Israel and apart from works he could be saved by exclusively trusting that Christ died for his sins, was buried, and raised the third day for his justification (1 Cor 15:1-4; Rom 4:25). Peter noted that Cornelius had blessed Israel (given alms) which ties in with the Abrahamic Covenant and blessings for Gentiles under Israel’s program. Also Peter taught that God respects those who work righteousness (works). Does our salvation message today include any of our works? Absolutely not… (Eph 2:8-9; Titus 3:5)
Peter solidifies the difference in his message and audience when in Acts 15, Peter, James, and John agree to keep their ministries separate from that of Paul’s, and to separate audiences (Gal 2:7-9).
A common mistake is to make Cornelius the pattern for the mystery of Christ since he was a Gentile. Yet, Cornelius was neither a result of Paul’s ministry nor the mystery message of Christ. The Lord revealed the mystery of Christ first to Paul (1 Tim 1:16). Paul was saved in Acts 9. The story of Cornelius is in Acts 10, but Peter is the minister, not Paul. Peter goes to him after a vision from the Lord and ministers to him the gospel of the kingdom. Peter did not teach the mystery of Christ. Cornelius and his house became a sign to Israel that the Spirit was receiving repentant Gentiles into Peter’s remnant group.
Cornelius was not a pagan Gentile. He was one who walked in obedience to the God of Israel:
A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway.
Acts 10:2
It was because of his obedience and faithfulness to God’s instructions that he received the vision.
And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God.
Acts 10:4
Cornelius would know that Israel was God’s people and were the chosen mediation between God and Gentiles. When Peter reluctantly arrived at this Gentile’s house, Cornelius quickly honored him knowing that he was a Jew. This was in accordance with Genesis 12:3.
And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him.
Acts 10:25
Today, prayers and alms are not prerequisites of Gentiles who are freely offered salvation through the direct mediation of Christ. What was hidden in time past was revealed in the mystery of Christ. Cornelius did not understand the mystery. Peter did not teach the mystery of Christ to Cornelius. In Acts 10 Peter is still observing the law of commandments that Jesus bid him to observe in Mt 23:1.
And he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.
Acts 10:28
The mystery of Christ teaches that we are no longer under the Law. Peter did not have a clue about that in Acts 10. He was told that he should not call any man unclean. A Gentile’s faith and righteous works were being shown to be acceptable to God within this passage. God does not respect persons, as was explained by the Law and the prophets (Deut 16:19, Prov 28:21). God told Peter that Gentiles who worked righteousness could be accepted into the believing kingdom group (Lk 12:32).
But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.
Acts 10:35
Thus, Peter confirmed a positional separation between Jew and Gentile, though neither should be respected in judgment of their good works. Peter continued to explain the message which Jesus ministered to Israel:
The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:) That word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judaea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached;
Acts 10:36-37
Clearly, Peter is teaching the same kingdom gospel that was taught by John, Jesus, and at Pentecost: repent and be baptized for the remission of sins, the kingdom is at hand. Of course, he includes his unique Pentecostal addition to the kingdom gospel which was that Jesus was resurrected, proving his position as the prophesied Messiah and Judge. It is by the name of Jesus that their sins could be remitted by repentance and baptism (Acts 2:38, Acts 4:12).
It was at this time that the Spirit fell on these devout Gentiles who believed on the name of Jesus of Nazareth, sent unto Israel, slain by the Jews, and witnessed by Peter. Nowhere, however, do we find a hint of the mystery of Christ.
The only thing resembling the mystery ministry given to the apostle Paul was that Cornelius was a Gentile, but Gentile believers were not a new or secret thing (Mt 15:28; Lk 7:3-8). The mystery of Christ is not the blessing of Gentiles. It was long prophesied that the Gentiles would be blessed through Israel. It is the uniting of Jew and Gentile into one new creature (Eph 2:15). It is Christ in the Gentiles (Col 1:27); the blindness of Israel (Rom 11:25); the heavenly destiny of the Body of Christ (Phil 3:20); the PreTrib Rapture of the Body of Christ (1 Cor 15:51-53); and the new means of glory in the Cross (Gal 6:14), not the nation Israel and its Law and covenants.
The lesson taught to Peter by the Spirit in Acts 10 equipped him to later give the right hand of fellowship to the apostle Paul (Gal 2:9). Yet, Peter did not teach nor did Cornelius receive the mystery information about Christ. That the Gentiles possessed more faith than Israel was always a sign of Israel’s shameful rejection of God (Lk 7:9) and Christians must recognize that Cornelius stands as an example of Gentile salvation under the gospel of the kingdom.